Receipts from non-traditional exports exceed target

Non-traditional exports have demonstrated once again why attention on it can spur shared growth. Ama Amankwah Baafi reports

Receipts from non-traditional exports (NTEs) in 2011 recorded US$2.423 billion against the targeted US$1.8 billion.

The figure marks a 48.74 per cent growth over the 2010 earnings of US$1.629 billion, the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), has reported.

Announcing the performance of the 2011 NTE in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer of the GEPA, Mr Kwadwo Owusu Agyeman, mentioned the 10 leading NTE products as cocoa paste, canned tuna, cocoa butter, cashew nuts and articles of plastics.

The rest are natural rubber sheets, veneers, freshly cut fruits, plywood and fertilisers.

A breakdown of sub-sector performance showed that receipts from agricultural products were US$296.97 million in 2011, US$164.93 million in 2010 and a change of 80.06 per cent.

Revenues from handicrafts grew its 2010 performance by 28.42 per cent from US$2.78 million to US$3.57 million during the period under review, while processed/semi processed exports yielded US$2122.79 million in 2011, US$1461.48 in 2010 and a growth of 45.25 per cent.

For the second time running, earnings from the NTE sector exceeded set targets. Export earnings for 2011exceeded set targets by 33 per cent, while 2010 earnings exceeded targets by 12.3 per cent, rising from a base of US$1.45 billion.

Earlier in 2011, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) through the GEPA introduced a five-year strategic plan to rake in US$5 billion receipts from NTEs by 2015.

Mr Agyeman cautioned that in spite of the growth, the contribution of the NTE sector to the country’s total export fell from 27 per cent in 2010 to 18 per cent in 2011, mainly due to higher gold and cocoa prices on the world market, and the export of crude oil.

“We have now started exporting oil and we need not lose concentration on NTEs to only oil. In fact, it is the wish of the President (Prof John Evans Atta Mills) that it will not happen with our oil find. We must continue to assist GEPA to ensure NTEs do not die after oil discovery. We are doing more but the entire trade sector is also doing better,” he stated.

On the average, the NTE sector has been growing steadily at an annual rate of about 16.4 per cent from 2001 to 2008. In 2009, the sector was hit by the global economic crunch which made earnings to fall by a negative 9.38 per cent from US$1.340 billion in 2008 to US$1.215 billion in 2009.

According to him, the sector contributed 25 per cent of total export revenue and must be taken seriously.

According to the GEPA CEO, Ghana’s non-traditional produce was exported to 146 countries in 2011 and those had been divided into five groups, namely, the European Union (EU), other developed countries, ECOWAS, other African countries and other countries. The performance of the NTE sector by markets indicated that the EU and ECOWAS markets absorbed 45.72 per cent and 27.04 per cent respectively, as those two markets continue to be the leading markets for Ghana’s NTE products.

Mr Agyeman explained that the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF) would provide funds to the GEPA to obtain air-conditioned containers to store exhibits, so that goods could be better preserved.

He appealed for a percentage of the oil revenue to go into supporting the development of NTEs.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, who graced the launch ceremony, acknowledged the impressive growth in the NTEs, saying this “goes to show that as a government the various interventions and programmes we have embarked on since 2009 are working towards the Better Ghana agenda”.

She said though the production of oil and gas needed much investment in infrastructure, few Ghanaians would benefit from it, hence the need to concentrate on NTEs.

Ms Tetteh charged the GEPA to begin to think of developing a national logistics strategy to reduce bureaucracy of exporting NTEs to the barest minimum.

“We can also demonstrate quality assurance by looking at warehousing for instance. We need more of those to improve export performance,” the trade minister stated.